<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Chronicles of Reuben and CO. by TheFanficMaster, TheFanficPrincess (TheFanficMaster)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22461400">The Chronicles of Reuben and CO.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFanficMaster/pseuds/TheFanficMaster'>TheFanficMaster</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFanficMaster/pseuds/TheFanficPrincess'>TheFanficPrincess (TheFanficMaster)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Ghost Hunters, Multi, Original Character(s), Original Fiction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 17:40:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,734</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22461400</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFanficMaster/pseuds/TheFanficMaster, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFanficMaster/pseuds/TheFanficPrincess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The adventures of a team of ghost hunters and their various cases.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was the click of a camera turning on, the only sound in the room being the breathing of a young man as he raised the camera to his face. He had a serious expression going on, his lips turned down in a determined frown as he tried to get the camera to work—it was a refurbished thing he’d bought and tried to fix himself, so he wasn’t really expecting it to work at all--</p>
<p>But woah and behold—it actually turned on! Blue eyes lit up like the skies on the night of the fourth of july as he began to mess around with the camera settings. After a few moments, when it was determined the camera was rolling and had a predetermined amount of film in it, Reuben Butler raised the camera to his face and began filming himself.</p>
<p>“Hello everyone! Welcome to headquarters! I’m Reuben! If you’re just tuning in for the first time, welcome to our ghost hunting show—or rather, behind the scenes! We’re not actually doing any ghost hunting today—I just kinda wanted to show everyone what it’s like for us everyday.”</p>
<p>He held the camera with one hand and used the other to flip his long flowing black hair over his shoulder so it landed mid back in a showy fashion, grinning widely into the camera. A few shelves stood behind him, with pictures framed of the entire group in various places and landmarks standing on them facing the camera. There was the time they visited the Grand Canyon and Ash had dropped his camera down into the canyon where it was irretrievable. He had been so pissy for hours until Reuben promised to buy him a new one, since it was his fault for startling Ash into dropping the camera in the first place…there were also normal pictures as well, the group standing outside the house, Reuben holding the camera and leaning so that he was just within frame and making a peace sign as everyone gathered behind him. Ash being the tallest stood in back, with Mary standing in front of him (the shortest), and Iona standing on the left of her while Candace stood on the right. They were a rather ragtag group, but he wouldn’t trade them for the world.</p>
<p>And it’s his friends that he went in search of after he adjusted the camera’s zoom really quick. He turned the camera to film outward as he walked down the hallway, his shoes thumping heavily on the wood floors. He passed by a bathroom, which he turned and filmed into for a moment, making a peace sign in the mirror, before turning again and heading down to the end of the hall.</p>
<p>He slipped into the room at the back—the door was short enough that Ash had to duck to get through it, something that he was made fun of for all the time. It is Ash that sat at his computer, back to Reuben, as he edited their newest upcoming episode of their local ghost hunting show together. Mary was sitting next to him on her own laptop with her audio editing program open, occasionally tapping Ash’s shoulder to show him what she had found. Candace and Iona were nowhere in sight and because of that, Reuben decided that now would be a good of time as any to sneak up on Ash and Mary and see how they were doing.</p>
<p>He stepped onto the plush blue carpet, his footsteps muffled by the material as he made his way silently into the room. Both occupants were otherwise distracted by their editing and didn’t notice him at all as he snuck up behind them--</p>
<p>Until he grinned widely and shouted, “Ahoy, mateys!”</p>
<p>Mary James jumped out of her skin, or so it seemed, and then turned to glare at him. Her icy blue eyes shimmered with annoyance and she reached up to run her fingers through her dyed blue hair—she always denied that she got it to match her eyes, but the color was so perfect a match that nobody really believed her.</p>
<p>“What the literal fuck, Reuben?” Mary growled and crossed her arms over her chest after a moment, giving him a glare that somehow matched the stern air around her—as for Ash Price, he merely groaned and reached up to scratch at his short, messy blond hair before sending a tired glare over his shoulder.</p>
<p>Reuben pouted. “You guys are no fun, those were terrible reactions!”</p>
<p>“Do you want us to mess up the show?” Mary snapped at him, shoving the camera out of her face when Reuben leaned in close with it. “I see you got that old thing working.”</p>
<p>“That’s right! So I decided to give our viewers a tour. I’ll have to put a bleep in now because of you.” He laughed and pointed directly at Mary, who only looked exhausted. “--Shame on you!”</p>
<p>“Look, we’re busy, if you’re not going to help, can you just get out…?” Ash grumbled, twisting around in his chair and reaching for a cigarette out of the pack in his pocket. Reuben grimaced, zooming in on Ash lifting the cigarette to his lips and lighting it before turning the camera around to face himself once more, wincing into the camera. “I hate it when he does that.”</p>
<p>“I can hear you.”</p>
<p>“That’s the point! We’re supposed to be showing off and you’re smoking!”</p>
<p>Ash glared into the camera as it swiveled back around to face him, dark green eyes giving him a look that might be able to kill if he stared long enough. “--Reuben, I swear to God--”</p>
<p>“Ah ah, no more swearing!”</p>
<p>Ash sighed heavily and rubbed at his forehead. “Look, I haven’t slept in two days, if you’re going to be like this, at least get me a damn coffee.” Reuben once again began to correct him on his swearing, but before he could say anything--</p>
<p>“Already done.” In stepped Iona Cook, her short curly, dyed purple hair falling into her face as she bent to serve both Mary and Ash her special brew—it even had the fancy cream drizzle that restaurants and cafe’s did.</p>
<p>“You’re a blessing, Iona.” Ash grumbled thankfully and reached for the coffee. Mary grinned up at Iona, her sour mood suddenly seeming to be gone as she took her cup.</p>
<p>“He’s right, you’re amazing! How do you always know when we need a coffee?”</p>
<p>“The walls are thin, you know, I could hear you griping all the way from the kitchen. I’m making lunch , so get ready to take a quick break.” Iona crossed her arms over her chest and gave them all a kind smile. “You sound like you need it. I heard you all moving around at 6 this morning.”</p>
<p>“Better to get started early,” Ash responded and turned back to his computer. He missed the glances his friends sent him—truthfully, they were all worried about him. It wasn’t unusual for Ash to be up for days—especially when he was editing a project with a deadline—but he seemed extra stressed lately and no one really knew why.</p>
<p>The tension however, broke pretty quickly when Reuben suddenly turned to Iona and exclaimed, “I’m doing a house tour, so if there’s anything in your room you don’t want anyone to see, better hide it now!”</p>
<p>“You are not going in my room,” Iona spoke mysteriously, sending him a look that cowed him in seconds.</p>
<p>“Fine.”</p>
<p>“You’re not going in ours either, that’s an invasion of privacy!” Mary snapped, her bad mood right back from where it had gone it seemed, and Reuben pouted into the camera as he turned it to face him again.</p>
<p>“I guess you’re only seeing my room guys, sorry about that.”</p>
<p>He left the room after that, heading for the stairs that led to the basement—well, it was a basement turned living space. There hadn’t been enough rooms when they moved in, so they had turned the basement into Reuben’s living area, since he had the most stuff and needed more space.</p>
<p>He took the stairs carefully—they creaked under his feet—and soon arrived in the basement, flipping the light on and stepping into his living area. His shoes tapped on the concrete as he wandered over to the bed in the corner by the stairs and flopped down on it. From this corner, he could see the rest of the basement.</p>
<p>He turned the camera to face himself again. “This is my living space! Lovely, isn’t it?” And he turned the camera back around to show it off, panning from the left to the right. The room was filled with various knickknacks and...stuffed animals and dolls, some in cases and some strewn out. “This is my collection!” He exclaimed excitedly, “All of these objects are from cases we’ve been through, you might recognize some of them from our shows! One special aspect of our jobs is that we ask for a souvenir at each place we go to. I keep all those souvenir’s down here and they’re well cared for, I promise!”</p>
<p>He panned the camera back to his face. “And don’t worry, each and every one of these items is blessed one a week by a friend of mine who’s a priest, so they won’t like...kill me in my sleep or anything.”</p>
<p>He said that so casually…</p>
<p>“Do you wanna see my favorite guys? I’ll show you my favorite.” He walks over to one of the standing cases and takes out a blond haired doll with rosy cheeks. “This is Stacey. We got her last week, she was given to me by a little girl who—well, you’ll have to tune into this coming episode to see!”</p>
<p>He pans the camera back to himself and winks before turning back to the doll and putting her back in her case very carefully, brushing her hair out of her face and patting her clothes down before shutting the case. It was obvious how much his dolls meant to him…</p>
<p>Then, he went back up the stairs and turned to the left, where he bypassed the other’s bedrooms and headed for the spacious kitchen. It had a marble island in the middle, with counters all around the right side by the stove and fridge, and their dining table on the left. Iona—while Reuben had been filming in the basement—had come back to the kitchen. She was stirring something in a pot, wearing her signature purple flower printed apron, and turned to smile at him as he entered.</p>
<p>“Lunch is almost ready.”</p>
<p>“Thanks, Princess!”</p>
<p>Iona rolled her eyes and shook her head before turning back to the stove. Reuben winked at the camera before walking into the living room area.</p>
<p>There was a long, gray couch that curved in the middle, creating a sort of corner with a glass coffee table in the middle on the floor. Then, there was Ash’s blue rocking chair that he loved to sleep in when he did actually sleep and Candace’s black leather chair that she won off ebay. There was a small tv off to the side, situated on a simple wooden stand, and Reuben flopped down on the couch and kicked his shoes off before inclining on the couch.</p>
<p>“Welp, now you’ve seen our pad--” He turned the camera to face him, giving the camera a smirk. “Be sure to tune in for Thursday’s new episode! Peace out!” He made a peace sign and winked at the camera.</p>
<p>The camera shut off.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Anne and Jeanne Part 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The beginning of the Investigation.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><a href="http://theoxofthezodiac.tumblr.com/"><br/></a>“Good morning, everyone! Thanks for tuning in!” Reuben smiled into the camera, strapped in by his seat belt. He was in the front passenger seat, Iona behind him messing around on her phone, with Mary (forever the smallest) in the middle reading a book (how did she do that without getting nauseous?) and Candace (their blonde beauty) on the side. Ash was driving, smoking a cigarette with the window open just enough to not fill the air with his putrid smoke. He used to be terrible about that, but it was a habit he was slowly working out of after Reuben (and the others) complained multiple times.</p>
<p>“All right, so I’m going to talk about where we’re going.” Ash grumbled, but Reuben ignored him. In fact, everybody in the car seemed to be ignoring him as he began to ramble. “—So, we’re headed to a small town called Ashland. It’s in Nebraska, if you don’t know where that is.” Reuben beamed, beginning to ramble. “I’ve always wanted to go there! They have a Museum and--”</p>
<p>“Cut to the chase please, no one wants to hear about that.” Mary grumbled, flipping a page in her book. Reuben glanced back at her and then back up at the camera. “I thought she wasn’t listening...anyway--”</p>
<p>He plastered on a smile again. “So, this case is very important to me. The family we’re going to see today moved into an older home, only for their child to be constantly hounded by night terrors and terrorized by visions in her waking day. Obviously, since a child is involved this will be handled with the utmost care and urgency. Children shouldn’t have to suffer at all, least of all due to negative entities.”</p>
<p>Iona glanced up, furrowing her brows and pursing her lips. She said nothing, but for a brief moment, her eyes seemed to look just as haunted as the location they were headed to. Mary looked up as well, frowning as she glanced at Iona, as if she knew what was running through her head.</p>
<p>Candace looked impatient and excited and turned, hair billowing behind her in her excitement. “--Ohhhh, are we almost there? I want to see the house!”</p>
<p>Reuben blanched. “The house is not the most important thing, Candace!”</p>
<p>“Oh I know! I just really love houses!”</p>
<p>“We know,” they all said in response, causing Candace to cross her arms over her chest and puff out her cheeks in a rather childish fashion.</p>
<p>After a good hour more of driving, they finally arrived at the location in question. Candace was practically bouncing in her seat and was the first to undo her seat belt and jump out of the car as they arrived.</p>
<p>The house was built in 1988, not really an old house by any means. However, that didn’t stop ghosts and they were all well aware of that as they looked up at the rather luxurious brick house, with a balcony on the first floor where the entrance was and modern looking white steps leading up to the front entrance.</p>
<p>“It’s beautiful,” Candace spoke again, wiggling in place. Ash, Mary and Reuben were already pulling equipment out of the car, but Iona came to join Candace.</p>
<p>Iona stared up at the front entrance, frowning. There appeared to be an attic in this house, given the presence of a third story window, but--</p>
<p>There was a little girl staring through that window down at Iona, locking eyes with her. She frowned, taking a step forward. Candace turned and stared at Iona questioningly, but did not ask. It was useless to pester Iona about what she was seeing and feeling before they even truly got to experience the location from the inside.</p>
<p>Before they could even get to the front door, Ash and Reuben carrying the cameras while Mary filmed them, handing a camera to Candace who quickly turned it on and began filming herself, a woman with long, wavy blonde hair and green eyes appeared in the doorway. At first glance, she appeared very young, but upon closer inspection she was probably in her mid thirties to forty years old.</p>
<p>“Hello, my name is Reuben,” Reuben introduced himself to the woman, who revealed herself to be Anne.</p>
<p>“Yes, we spoke on the phone.” She seemed almost hurried as she led them inside. “Please, this way, we need your help very urgently…”</p>
<p>The house appeared just as spacious on the inside as it did from the outside. They entered into a small entryway and the investigators quickly noticed as they made their way into the house that they seemed to have a lot of plants, both hung and seated on the floor. The wood was nice and polished and didn’t look old at all. Candace in particular was taking note of every little thing, the placement of the bookcase in the entryway, the pictures of the family—there were pictures of a dog that didn’t seem to be around anymore, judging by the silence in the house and lack of excitement.</p>
<p>They were taken to the living room. Candace panned her camera over the course of the living room, zooming in on a few of the pictures of the family. Ash and Mary settled down with the stationary camera for this floor after talking to Anne and started to get everything set up while Reuben approached with a gentle smile.</p>
<p>“My Husband is away on a business trip, so it’s just me and my daughter right now,” Anne smiled back, crossing her arms over her chest. The little girl that had peeked from the attic earlier made her way down the stairs, glancing at Iona as she passed her on her way up the stairs without being asked, but saying nothing about the strange people in her home.</p>
<p>The little girl looked the spitting image of her Mother, but more subdued, and she hid behind her Mother’s leg for a few moments while Anne smiled down at her and pat her head. “These are the people that I told you about Jeanne, they’re going to help us—help you.”</p>
<p>Jeanne blinked up at Reuben, who knelt down to be at eye level with her. She slowly left her Mother’s side to walk up to him. “You’re...going to help me?”</p>
<p>“That’s right, Jeanne. I’m Reuben and these are my friends. We’re here to help you, so please don’t worry anymore.”</p>
<p>Jeanne teared up after a long moment and walked right into Reuben’s arms for a hug. He grinned and gave her a tight hug, while Anne watched with a tired smile.</p>
<p>It was a few minutes later, when they were settling down to introduce themselves, that Mary finally spoke. “Hey, where’s Iona?” They all blinked and looked around—their friend was nowhere to be found.</p>
<p>“The pretty lady went upstairs,” Jeanne pointed to the stairs from her Mother’s arms and Anne turned and went to the stairs. The group followed her.</p>
<p>After heading up the stairs, they found themselves staring at an equally spacious upstairs. One of the door’s, the one leading to Jeanne’s bedroom, was wide open. Anne entered first, Reuben next, and the rest of the group following them.</p>
<p>“Iona?” Mary asked, walking over to the woman’s side who was staring out the window down at the yard between the bed and the toy chest. Iona seemed lost in her thoughts, arms crossed and tapping her foot absently, before blinking and realizing her friends were by her side.</p>
<p>“Oh I’m so sorry, that was rude wasn’t it?” Iona smiled, but it was a strained one. Mary gave her a worried glance, but Iona ignored it for now, turning to Anne and giving an apologetic look. “I’m so sorry, I can get a bit carried away sometimes...I’m Iona Cook,” She shook hands with Anne, and the group introduced themselves one by one.</p>
<p>When the introductions were out of the way, Ash spoke. “...Did you see something, Iona?”</p>
<p>“See something?” Anne asked quietly, before Candace slipped to her side and whispered.</p>
<p>“She’s our medium. She can communicate with spirits and see things others can’t.”</p>
<p>“Oh,” Anne stared at Iona with a new, intrigued light in her eyes. Iona tried to ignore it, nodding at Ash.</p>
<p>“I heard something, so I came up here...and I can see your problem already,” Iona began. “This house, it’s been burnt down before, hasn’t it?”</p>
<p>Anne’s eyes widened slightly, glancing around at the group before answering. “Yes, it...it has. This is not the original model—it was rebuilt to look like the original that stood on this property before it. But it has burnt down before, you’re right.”</p>
<p>Intrigue welled up inside Reuben as he listened and he knew exactly what Iona was about to say before she said it.</p>
<p>“The previous family died in the fire. The spirit your daughter is making contact with is from that family. There are five spirits inhabiting your home.” Anne looked like she might just faint at this new information.</p>
<p>“Mary!” Jeanne spoke, turning to her Mother. “Mary! My best friend!”</p>
<p>Iona nodded, “The little girl, Mary, is from that family. There is a young woman, two little boys, Mary, and a man inhabiting your home.”</p>
<p>They all turned to look at one another, the atmosphere turning serious in an instant.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Investigation Part 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>As they learn more about the situation, they realize it's far more dangerous than anticipated.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The atmosphere turned thick with tension, so palpable that Candace was shifting on her feet as if trying to escape it. Reuben was the first to speak up.</p>
<p>“What caused the fire?”</p>
<p>“...The man. He...killed the entire family.” Iona shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, staring around at the room like she was seeing something else.</p>
<p>She was.</p>
<p>And yet, the lick of fire wasn’t on her skin. Instead, she felt cold, so cold. Her chest felt hollow, like there was no feeling there whatsoever. That was something she had never felt before and definitely not what she had expected from someone who had died in the house fire.</p>
<p>Could it be--?</p>
<p>“Richard Jones,” Iona swallowed thickly and closed her eyes. “...The man, is trying to communicate with me.”</p>
<p>“What...is he saying?” Anne seemed unsure, her fingers white as she held onto her daughter, like she was becoming more and more terrified with every waking moment. Iona—if she had been able to focus on it—wouldn’t blame her at all.</p>
<p>But as it was, her attention was rather taken up at the moment.</p>
<p>“I sense...an empty feeling…” Iona spoke again, fingers clutching at her blouse. “...A cold, desolate feeling. This man did not start the fire, however. He was killed in the fire.”</p>
<p>“What is he telling you?” Anne pressed again, her voice desperate. Reuben glanced at her, giving a small frown. He was torn—on one hand, he understood her concern, especially since her young daughter was involved.</p>
<p>On the other hand, this sort of thing was delicate and better not rushed.</p>
<p>“...I need some more time.” Iona spoke quietly, turning away from them. “Leave me, I’ll be down soon.”</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Once they were downstairs, they settled in the kitchen, all taking a seat at the table. Jeanne was still in her Mother’s arms, strangely quiet for the situation, especially given how excited she had been to talk about her best friend Mary.</p>
<p>It was quiet for a solid minute as everyone settled down, but then, surprisingly enough, it was Ash that spoke up first.</p>
<p>“So Anne,” Ash began. “Tell us more about what’s been happening, so that we have a better picture.”</p>
<p>“Well,” Anne took a shaky breath. “...Jeanne has been speaking to people we can’t see. They seem to be communicating with her and avoiding the rest of us...for the life of me, I can’t figure out why.”</p>
<p>“Children are more open to communicating with spirits,” Mary explained, crossing her arms over her chest. “...They haven’t learned that sort of skepticism yet that we have. It’s common for spirits to choose a child to communicate with, especially if they are a child themselves.”</p>
<p>Anne shifted uncomfortably, before speaking again. “--Your friend...she was right. This house burnt down once before, a few years back. The entire family died in the house fire.”</p>
<p>“Do they have any idea who started it?” Candace gently pressed and Anne’s hold on Jeanne tightened protectively. Not from Candace exactly, but it became obvious as such with her next sentence. “They believe the Mother was the one who started the fire. The Father was rumored to be abusive, though they never had enough concrete evidence to put him behind bars.”</p>
<p>“So it’s likely that this was an act of domestic violence.”</p>
<p>“No, not exactly,” Iona entered the room, eyes closed for a moment before slowly opening them. “It was less an act of domestic violence and more an act of desperation on the Mother’s part.”</p>
<p>“Desperation? What do you mean?” Reuben asked, eyes fixated on Iona’s. Her gaze never left his.</p>
<p>“The things that man tried to do to those children...were despicable. The Mother thought she was ‘saving’ her children from him by killing them all and herself.”</p>
<p>A chill seemed to settle in the room, a mournful silence creeping up on them all. It wasn’t the first time they’d heard a tale like this, but it never ceased to astound them all what humans were capable of...both alive and dead.</p>
<p>Ash always claimed they’d grow desensitized eventually.</p>
<p>Reuben disagreed with him—how could one grow desensitized to something that resonates with your very core?</p>
<p>“On the phone, you mentioned that your daughter was having nightmares,” Reuben spoke, this time to Anne, and the woman nodded, absently playing with Jeanne’s hair.</p>
<p>“Jeanne, sweetheart, tell the nice man about the things you told me.”</p>
<p>Jeanne, her large eyes mystified and curious, turned to look at Reuben. “...There’s a lady that talks to me.”</p>
<p>“A Lady?”</p>
<p>“Uh huh. But...her face is…weird.”</p>
<p>“Weird?”</p>
<p>Jeanne nodded, reaching up to wipe at the right side of her face. “It’s creepy, wrong!”</p>
<p>That arose a whole slew of questions in Reuben’s mind. Had the Mother become a vengeful spirit after her passing? But before he could even voice his opinion on the matter, Anne pet down Jeanne’s hair and spoke again.</p>
<p>“...That wasn’t all, Jeanne. Tell the rest.”</p>
<p>“There was a bad man. He had….an….an…” She looked like she was struggling with the word, making a shape with her hand.</p>
<p>Anne spoke up, finishing her sentence. “...an axe, the man had an axe.”</p>
<p>“...And the kids were screaming.” Jeanne finished.</p>
<p>Iona walked out of the room, face paler than the moon on a winter night. Mary frowned and muttered a quick apology before rushing after Iona, leaving Reuben, Ash and Candace to handle the situation for now.</p>
<p>“Is...your friend all right?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, she will be.” Reuben smiled reassuringly. “—Spiritual Medium’s can sometimes be seriously affected by these things. I’d wager she probably doesn’t feel safe or good right now, so it’s best that she spends some time to collect herself.”</p>
<p>“I see.” Anne paused. “...Do you think you can help us?”</p>
<p>Reuben’s smile softened, a look in his eyes that wasn’t there before as he leaned in and gently took one of Anne’s hands and one of Jeanne’s. “I promise, to both of you, we will do everything we can to make sure you are safe. As much as I feel for the dead, the living come first.”</p>
<p>Anne’s expression melted into a little smile and Jeanne looked like she wanted to say more, but in the end she didn’t.</p>
<p>“Now,” Reuben let go of their hands and leaned back. “We have to talk and make some phone calls. We’ll be back in a bit.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>“Iona,” Mary frowned, having found her friend shaking and dry heaving by the car, face a pasty color and breaths leaving her in harsh gasps. Iona turned briefly to acknowledge her, seeming to take strength in Mary’s steady presence, and opened up the car door to sit sideways with her legs dangling out of the vehicle. Mary quickly moved to her side.</p>
<p>“...Are you going to be okay?”</p>
<p>Iona nodded. “The feelings in the house...they’re all so...strong.” She swallowed thickly around the bile in her throat and looked like she was struggling to speak. “--So thick, I could feel them taking away my air--”</p>
<p>“Do you think we need a Priest?”</p>
<p>“...Definitely,” Iona pursed her lips in a frown. “A Priest is definitely necessary.”</p>
<p>“For the man?”</p>
<p>Surprisingly, she shook her head. “No.”</p>
<p>Mary raised a brow, shocked at the answer she received. “No? Then who?”</p>
<p>Iona turned and looked Mary in the eye. “The Mother. If we don’t help her move on, she’s going to try to kill that family.”</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>